Robert J. Fisher: Putin's imperialism serves as lesson for U.S. domestic policy

Opinion: U.S. must realize our record of imperialism against Mexicans, Native Americans may lead to crisis

Russian President Vladimir Putin abruptly left the recent G20 conference in Australia in the face of mounting criticism of his nation's imperialistic designs on Eastern Ukraine.

Ironically, the loudest criticism was generated by Great Britain, France and the United States, three nations with their own histories of imperialism. For several centuries, the British and French empires, along with those of Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal, spanned the globe. American imperialism, on the other hand, has been obscured by patriotism and nationalism associated with Manifest Destiny.

In the 1820s, Mexico invited American settlers to migrate to Texas to hasten the settlement of that territory. In 1835, frustrated with Mexico's ban on slavery, the American settlers rebelled and in 1836 declared themselves to be the independent Lone Star Republic. Mexico refused to recognize the independence of Texas. In 1845, Americans in Texas asked the United States to annex Texas and the U.S. agreed. The annexation of Texas had become a popular political issue in the presidential election of 1844 won by James K. Polk.

In 1846, President Polk provoked a dispute with Mexico by claiming that the Rio Grande River, and not the Nueces River, was the actual boundary between Texas and Mexico. This contentious move enabled the U.S. to also lay claim to a major portion of the New Mexico Territory as well.

To defend its claim to the disputed territory, Mexico sent a military contingent to the banks of the Nueces River and engaged American forces. Claiming that, "American blood had been shed on American soil," President Polk asked Congress to declare war on Mexico.

None other than Abraham Lincoln, a virtually unknown Whig congressman from Illinois, challenged Polk to prove that the spot where the hostilities occurred was indeed American soil. The "spot resolution" became the focus of a widespread anti-war effort by the Whigs.

Philosopher-writer Henry David Thoreau went to jail rather than pay taxes to support the war. Buoyed by widespread public support for Manifest Destiny, Congress ignored the Whig opposition and declared war on Mexico. American settlers in California declared independence as the Bear Flag Republic. Led by Zachary Taylor, who later would become president, American forces easily defeated Mexico and occupied New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California as well. All of the above territories were eventually admitted as American states.

The uncanny resemblance between the circumstances associated with the U.S. acquisition of its vast southwestern territory and Russia's imperialism in Eastern Europe should be apparent.

During the 17th and 19th centuries, Russian czars captured the Ukraine and Crimea. Thousands of Russian nationals migrated to the captured territories. In the aftermath of the Cold War, Russia granted independence to the Crimea, the Ukraine and the Baltic states. Russian separatists rebelled against the Ukraine and have asked to be reunited with Russia. Putin's encouragement and assistance to the separatists are the focus of current western criticism of Russia's new imperialism.

At the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson was instrumental in the establishment of the League of Nations in an effort to make that conflict the "war to end all wars." The league was designed, in part, to achieve self-determination for the victims of imperialism.

The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian empires was the first step in that process. This is how the Ukraine became independent once again. The persistence of the current conflict may be an indication that that crusade is at best incomplete and perhaps unattainable. The abandonment of that goal, however, may condemn the world to an endless succession of even more destructive conflicts.

Finally, Americans must come to realize that our own record of imperialism against Mexicans and Native Americans may soon result in a similar crisis in the Southwest. Mexican-Americans will soon outnumber all other ethnic groups in Texas and California. They will then be poised to reclaim their former territories by osmosis. Political action groups are already working for equal rights and power-sharing in the affected areas. In the foreseeable future, they may begin to demand autonomy and even secession.

Will Americans prove themselves capable of making the concessions necessary to avoiding the type of dilemma facing Russia and the Ukraine?

Robert J. Fisher of Upper Saucon Township has taught U.S. history in the Allentown School District and at Northampton Community College and DeSales University.